LKL Slam Dunk Contest

{{Short description|Annual Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) competition}}

{{Infobox sports award

| name = Slam Dunk Contest

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| sport = Lietuvos krepšinio lyga

| competition =

| discipline =

| givenfor =

| english =

| localnames = {{native name|lt|Oro Karalius}}

| nickname =

| first = Gary Arrington, 1994

| number =

| last =

| first winner=

| mostwins = Darius Sirtautas: 3 times

| mostrecent = Kenny Gaines

| url =

}}

The LKL Slam Dunk Contest was an annual Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) competition, that was originally held during the LKL All-Star Day, and later during the King Mindaugas Cup. The contest has been held almost every year, from the first All-Star Day.

History

Throughout the history of the contest, there have been witnessed many famous moments. Most noticeable being the 2001 contest, in Kaunas, where Robertas Javtokas (representing Lietuvos rytas) repeated the World Record for the highest slam dunk, when he dunked a basketball on a goal set at 3.65m (12 feet) above the floor.{{cite news|title=Nuo rekordo iki kuriozo: įsimintiniausi LKL Žvaigždžių dienos dėjimai|url=http://www.alfa.lt/straipsnis/49962319/nuo-rekordo-iki-kuriozo-isimintiniausi-lkl-zvaigzdziu-dienos-dejimai|accessdate=18 February 2017|work=alfa.lt|date=4 January 2016|language=Lithuanian}}

The very first slam dunk contest was won by Gary Arrington, of BC Statyba, at the 1994 LKL All-Star Day, in Panevėžys.{{cite news|last1=Ramoška|first1=Saulius|title=Rankas smailina tritaškininkai ir dėjikai|url=http://lzinios.lt/lzinios/Sportas/rankas-smailina-tritaskininkai-ir-dejikai/238960|accessdate=18 February 2017|work=Lietuvos žinios|date=18 February 2017|language=Lithuanian}} The current champion of the LKL Dunk Contest is Kenny Gaines.{{cite news|title=KMT "Oro karaliumi" tapo A.Bestą nurungęs 175 cm ūgio G.Žitlinskas |url=http://www.krepsinis.net/naujiena/kmt-oro-karaliumi-tapo-a-besta-nurunges-175-cm-ugio-g-zitlinskas/270931 |accessdate=18 February 2017 |work=Krepsinis.net |date=18 February 2017 |language=Lithuanian}}

Slam Dunk Contest champions

class="wikitable sortable"

! Year !! Player !! Nationality !! Team

1994 (Panevėžys)

| Gary Arrington

| {{USA}}

| Statyba

1995 (Alytus)

| Darius Sirtautas

| {{LTU}}

| Atletas

1997 (Kaunas)

| Darius Sirtautas (2×)

| {{LTU}}

| Žalgiris

1998 (Vilnius)

| Darius Sirtautas (3×)

| {{LTU}}

| Žalgiris

1999 (Kaunas)

| Eurelijus Žukauskas

| {{LTU}}

| Žalgiris

2000 (Kaunas)

| Robertas Javtokas

| {{LTU}}

| Lietuvos rytas

2001 (Kaunas)

| Robertas Javtokas (2×)

| {{LTU}}

| Lietuvos rytas

2002 (Kaunas)

| Dainius Šalenga

| {{LTU}}

| Žalgiris

2003 (Kaunas)

| Aaron Lucas

| {{USA}}

| Lietuvos rytas

2004 (Kaunas)

| Marco Spears

| {{USA}}

| Alita

2005 (Vilnius)

| Antonio Grant

| {{USA}}

| Neptūnas

2007 (Vilnius)

| Aivaras Kiaušas

| {{LTU}}

| Sakalai

2008 (Šiauliai)

| Mantas Kalnietis

| {{LTU}}

| Žalgiris

2009 (Šiauliai)

| Arvydas Šikšnius

| {{LTU}}

| Sakalai

2010 (Panevėžys)

| Aron Baynes

| {{AUS}}

| Lietuvos rytas

2011 (Šiauliai)

| Algirdas Palaima

| {{LTU}}

| Vilnius Pedagogical University, LSKL

2012 (Klaipėda)

| Sonny Weems

| {{USA}}

| Žalgiris

2013 (Šiauliai)

| Šarūnas Beniušis

| {{LTU}}

| LSU-Baltai

2014 (Klaipėda)

| Travis Leslie

| {{USA}}

| Šiauliai

2015 (Vilnius)

| Travis Leslie (2×)

| {{USA}}

| Lietuvos rytas

2016 (Vilnius)

| Rafal Lipinski

| {{POL}}

| Guest

2017 (Kaunas)

| Gediminas Žitlinskas

| {{LTU}}

| Guest

2018 (Klaipėda)

| Kenny Gaines

| {{USA}}

| Juventus

See also

References